Rotary Group Study Exchange team in North India

A passage to India -- The Sentinel Feb. 17

2008-02-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

By Patrick Revere
The Holland Sentinel

The typical Western perception of India today is of sweeping seas of call centers. It is a perception that in recent years has replaced the one of enlightened yogis and swamis with spare cloth and frail smiles.

As is the case with many things in India these days, both perceptions are accurate.

During a recent month-long Rotary-sponsored tour of Uttar Pradesh, the country's most densely populated, undereducated and impoverished state, it became apparent that I was seeing a place in such a rapid state of flux that the slightest bit of inattention would become a failure to experience something never to be recovered.

Much of the south of India, particularly the cities of Mumbai and Bangalore, is heavily wired and laden with the newest technologies. But Uttar Pradesh, commonly called U.P., is in the northeast, where villagers still far outnumber tech workers. Heavy machinery buries fiber-optic lines alongside rutted highways. Old World laborers who use their hands to dry cow pies for fuel and pulverize brick for new construction share the same space.

Even in a state with such limited resources, the progress in 60 years since independence from Britain is widely visible. Progressive leaders -- both in politics and business -- strive to do away with the archaic caste system, which is outlawed but still practiced. They work to get millions of village children to school for at least a basic education.

There are women heads of state, including Mayawati Kumari, the verbose and controversial chief minister of U.P., who comes from a former "untouchable" family. Deepak Abash, a Varanasi-based designer of bank interiors, told me that elected and appointed government leaders represent all religious, socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds to achieve "unity through diversity."

"We want to prosper. This is the only way to do it," he told me as we forged through the chaotic streets of the world's oldest living city. "Hindus here have conflict with Muslims. If we wanted, we could crush them ... but that's not what this country wants."

Government corruption in India remains a major problem. Disease is rampant. Electricity is patchy at best. The middle class is growing, but the resources of the lower rungs of society are as spare as the supply of clean water.

I was sent to India, along with three other young professionals from Michigan and Ontario, by local Rotarians for a cultural exchange. What I learned is that when government fails, business-service organizations can step in. Rotary is in the final stages of a campaign to eradicate polio. The next project likely will expand clean, public water. We visited schools, medical clinics, farms, and training centers that teach people how to make carpets, jewelry and clothing -- all sponsored by Indian Rotarians.

Nearly everywhere we toured people questioned me about the stability of the U.S. economy. What's wrong? How is it going to turn around? How will it affect us? I explained what I could, with the admission that there are people much more able than I to address these issues.

But one thing was clear -- it's all about the will of the people. India and the United States are the world's largest democracies. We have the collective intellect and compassion to help each other achieve a common goal.

Will the United States still have the world's leading economy in 20 years? Maybe not. Will India? Maybe. Regardless, we can all learn and prosper, and ideally become more "united through diversity."

On the web
For a photo gallery of Patrick Revere's trip to India, go to spotted.hollandsentinel.com

taj taj taj

2008-01-26T22:41:00.000-08:00

to the taj!

2008-01-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

Who's got two thumbs and is ridin' 250 mph backward on rails between delhi and agra to see one of the world's wonders (and is bloggin about it from his phone)? THIS GUUYY!!! Look for photos and comments in about 15 hours.

Allahabad to Khujaraho

2008-01-22T05:13:00.000-08:00

There are many photos and experiences regarding our stay in Allahabad, which may have been the most enjoyable days of the trip. We had extremely nice and considerate hosts, foremost Arunava and Poonam, who have worked hard to organize most of the monthlong trip. Our collective thanks on all accounts. Today I will be unable to spend too much time because of a busy schedule and a home office dial-up connection here in the city of Satna. It's one of the smaller spots we'll stay and only for a day. Coming from Allahabad we made an ill-advised left turn in one of the many many villages and ended up on rutted and sometimes unpaved, hilly backroads to Khujaraho. This place, which has a name I'm likely mispelling, is called the Land of Temples. It's immaculately clean, beautifully landscaped and just acre upon acre of ancient sandstone temples made by Hindustan kings as long ago as 900 a.d. What a treat it was to spend the night in a hotel there, have breakfast and walk among these ancient and nearly entirely intact places of worship for a long, sun-soaked afternoon. All of the temples are carved with the erotic figures often photographed and copied for the Kama Sutra. The cascading minarets are designed to look like the peaks of the Himalayas and the entry ways like caves to mimic the places where lord Shiva was said to live, meditate and reach enlightenment. This evening we're in Satna, cement city, which our tour guide says "pass through if you can". That being said, who wants to stick to tour books. If that were the case we wouldn't be staying in homes of nice people like Santos Gupta, a native of Allahabad who moved here to begin a billy manufacturing company. Billies (again, spelling) are handmade, all natural cigarettes mosted noted for the green leaf that wraps them. Tonight we have a cultural presentation and will do our stuff at the Rotary meeting, dinner, and tomorrow a breakfast and tour of a Rotary community project. Have I said that here, where government seems to fail all too often, Rotary seems to pick up the bill and help run schools or employment programs. Midday tomorrow we head to Renukoot for a few days and will begin the sojourn back to Delhi for a day in Agra via the speed train and a day in Delhi shopping and such before getting back on the plane. I hope all is well back home and abroad, and wish everyone a fine morning/evening.

Indian Jungle

2008-01-19T02:39:00.000-08:00

The delay in dispatches, folks, have come with good reason. After leaving Lucknow we headed north and a bit east for a quick lunch in Sitapur and went along to Lakhimpur Khiri. These are both much smaller places than we’d been. Therefore, no wiring for Web, including at cafes. At Lakhimpur Khiri, after meeting briefly with Rotarians at the outpost and posing for photos, with the GSE team adorned in the area’s finest cloth bandanas (I looked like a rhasta cowboy), we loaded back into the trusty four-wheel to head for the tiger preserve, Duduwana, near Nepal. That lasted only to the end of the road. Flat tire. We all hopped out, much to the glee of the locals, who gathered around in gads to watch the interesting looking people look with interest at a flat tire. With good humor, Karisa pulled out the guitar and did an impromptu jam sess. The crowed grew to a couple hundred, pulled tightly around Karisa and the car. After the performance, our driver headed out to get the bad tire fixed, so we retreated “backstage” behind the gates of the Rotary complex. The road to the “the end of the earth”, as Anne called it, was dusty and rutted and thick with sugar cane fields. The villagers, unlike most who would stare with interest and sometimes chase the vehicle, looked nearly startled at our presence. We were told that India is famous for its jungles and that many westerners come for such trips, but not to the one we’re headed. The others have loads of five star hotels. Ours would be nice, but rustic by comparison. At nightfall we waited at a one-way rail crossing, the only route to our destination. When it was our turn, we drove a quarter mile or more across a thin rail bridge, which seemed no more bumpy than the roads we normally travel. Before going to the forest house, we stopped at a Rotarian’s house on an enclosed compound at one of the area’s largest sugar cane processing plants. We had a Lohri celebration, a Punjabi harvest celebration that may or may not also have something to do with the astrological configurations (this is under wide debate). We built a bonfire, fed it peanuts and popcorn and fed ourselves whiskey. The team of five, along with our primary host, sat around a table and had dinner as about 20 others looked on and offered dish upon dish. This is a central theme here, part of what builds the “American Circus” notion for us. We arrived at the house late and tucked into some damp and chilly beds to awake the next morning with the sun fighting off a thick haze. Monkeys prowled, hoping for handouts. We took car rides through the jungle and then mounted elephants to look for wildlife, with tiger as the ultimate prize. This turned out to be one of the most magical experiences, not of the trip, but of a lifetime. The view from atop an elephant: a constant and startling change between having heads in the thick trees of the forest, to that one step to a clearing that showed a vast river plain or grassy open field for miles. When coming to India, I thought of the cities and monuments, never of this unbelievable open-sky natural beauty. It looked like photos of the Savannah in Africa I’d seen. So here we are, taking deep breaths to consume the cool air spilling down from the Himalayas, and our guide spots something through the thick and up a hill. After a lumbering ascent and a push through a strong web of over and undergrowth, there stood in a small clearing, feeding, a pair of black, heavily plated rhinos. They looked at us and the elephants, about 20 feet away, with some amount of indifference. Then the elephants began to growl, a from-the-belly, guttural rumbling. The mama and her baby, after a few moments, opted to find another place to graze and pushed through the thick. We circled around, headed back down the hill, found another small trail, and before long pulled into the thick again. There, under a log (I feel the guides understood where to look) was a giant python. At its thickest point, I may have had a hard time wrapping my arm around it. It likely was 20 feet or better in length. It stayed coiled, almost entirely motionless until we hovered right above. Then, it only moved the front foot near its head and flickered about, relatively undisturbed. We pushed out and continued our lumbering safari as the sun really started to rise and warm the day. We moseyed along riverside wetlands and looked at any number of variety of birds --- cranes, storks, kingfisher, spoonbills …

Back at the forest house I was reclining in the terrace sun, half asleep when I heard a couple shrieks. I could tell Karisa, who had pulled out her guitar and was looking to relax and strum on the other side of the terrace, was having some unwanted interaction with the monkeys. This was the opportunity for which I had been waiting. With all my practice on squirrels back home, now I could leap into action. I ran across the veranda and turned the corner shortly after one of the crazy monkeys had lept and taken a swipe at Chris’ back, and began growling and jumping up and down and wagging my legs and hands wildly. They back down a bit – a mother and her little ones – but it took a second rant to make them run off. It was affective after all, and really made the girls laugh. Anne saw the whole thing from a nearby watchtower that rises about five stories. I saw her up there and went to get a look myself. There, before lunch, looking out across the river, I saw one of the most awe inspiring views of my life. A wide, undulating river in the sun, rutted with sandbars and trees and brush in all stages, and alive with animal life. Photos will be included. After lunch, in a cafeteria cage to hide from monkeys, we hit the road for Lakhimpur Khiri. That night we had a Rotary club presentation and spent the night with a host family. The following day we split for Rae Bareli and had the same program: One Rotary dinner with presentation, one night with host families. Somewhere along the way I contracted some “rot gut”. By the time we made along several hours of rough road to Allahabad, where we are now, I was no good for anything. I spent two days in bed and ate nearly nothing for three days. Some meds, which were tough to keep down, and yogurt and rice, and a lot of water and a lot of rest has resurrected me. I feel “98 percentages” today and have done away with what the locals openly and frequently refer to as “loose motions” or “loosies”. Enough of that! I had a great meeting here with a group of journalists from The Times of India. Today we went to the home of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the place where Gandhi spent many of his most influential years fighting for the country’s independence from Britain. We also went to a zoological museum and had a nice lunch at a downtown place called El Chico. Our current hosts – mine, Neeraj and Mamta, as well as our tour coordinator, Arunav and Poonam Ray, are very fun and progressive people. Tonight we have dinner together, and if we’re lucky, get a chance to relax and listen to some more Australian country music!

The latest here is my involvement in cricket. I was sitting in the street waiting for a ride to a Rotary function when some of the local boys asked if I would join them in a game. I was briefed of the rules (luckily one of the youngsters already has a pretty good handle on English, because I'm still pretty slow with Hindi), and we were off. I played one game yesterday and another this morning. I'm unsure if there was a winner yesterday, but I know today's match was a win for the good guys. As was Indian's fine win today over bad guys Australia (sorry Sonya). I'm told this is the first win for an opponent on Oz soil since 2005. If you all are as naive about the game as I was a couple weeks ago, don't worry, you won't really miss anything. You have until March to figure it out. These cats play FOREVER. Today we did a little shopping, and Anne's hosts (Arunav and Poonam) took us out for burgers, fries and Pepsi. What a treat. The burgers were REALLY good. And for those of who doubt me, they are not hamburgers, but lamb-burgers. Tonight, maybe finally, a movie. Namaste.

First the photos

2008-01-19T02:28:00.000-08:00

headed somewhere

2008-01-12T20:19:00.001-08:00

this morning finishes our longest stay in any one city, and i feel a bit saddened to go. lucknow is a very cool city and was filled with very warm and fun people. we finished our tour here last night at the rotary center by attending an all-clubs meeting and giving our presentations. we had a couple drinks, dinner, and danced punjabi-style around a bonfire. i have photos and video that are forthcoming. trust they're worth seeing. i cannot recall where we're headed. in the jumble of places and names, i've misplaced this one somewhere, along with our travel itinerary. i know it's about a three hour drive and a one night stay before moving again. the lone thing i recall is that we'll be visiting a tiger park. in the case there is no web availability in this much smaller city (some have even called it a village, but that could be capital city egoism), hang tight and expect posts from allahabad, which is just a few days off. from lucknow, patrick and the rotary's traveling circus -- p.

Some catching up

2008-01-11T19:06:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago we visited a hand embroidery shop called MLK Pvt. Ltd. here near Lucknow. Its run by a pair of brothers and each 100 percent cotton garment (mostly tops, dresses and skirts) is hand sewn, washed, died, embroidered in the fashion known as chikan, clipped, checked for quality, pressed, folded, packaged and shipped. It's a lot of work with a lot of people. There an even split of men and women, with all men doing the sewing and all women doing the chikan work, and a smattering for the other jobs. The shop was clean and seemed to be well run and all the employees were fully clothed adults. This probably should not need to be said, but I understand what the impression many in the U.S. and Europe have of garment factories in developing nations. The company is two years old. Last week they sent a shipment to the U.K. -- 30,000 pieces. When I returned to my host family in the evening, the grandfather here, Ramesh, told me he was the first person to take Chikan to the states in 1973. Today, we all know this type of garments. Many of my friends where it, particularly ladies on skirts or down the plackard of a light top. It's a delicate and intricate series of stiches, many times in loops and flowers, and also incorporates sequins and sometimes tiny mirrors. Yes, in 1973 Ramesh brought this form to the states. This type of export (along with handicrafts, including amazing camelbone carvings) remains the center of the business that supports six people in this beautiful home in the oldest section of Lucknow. Chikan apparently was commissioned by Aurangzeb, the militant son of Shah Jaha, who had the Taj Mahal built as a mausoleum and memorial for his deceased wife. Aurangzeb enjoyed having this stitchwork on this pill box caps, and before long it became a stylish decoration in the way we wear it today. It took but 400 years to make it to the states. Thanks Ramesh.

We also visited the Residency, a park with 300-plus year old buildings dating back to British occupation. It was the site of the 1857 mutiny. The cannons stood in place, as did the holes in walls from cannon balls and other, smaller ammunition. The experience, on a warm, sunny day, reminded me of all the trips my cousin and I used to take with his father Dick when he was doing hospice work on Arizona reservations. Ruins, ruins, ruins. Many marred walls with no ceilings. History lessons, stories of days passed that often ended with bloodshed.

We had a nice day yesterday (Friday) touring the Uttar Pradesh consulate building. The 406 person consulate is not in session. Virtually everything here is on holiday break. We sat in the office of the general secretary of the state Shri Hukmdeo Narayan Nadav and had tea. We sat in some uncomfortable silence for a little while, all of us expecting maybe we were awaiting someone, or to finish tea, or for some other reason the secretary wanted to wait before entering discussion about legislation, government, programs, funding, challenges, etc. Carly, our youth probation officer was the first impatient enough to begin asking questions. She asked about priorities -- Water, refuse cleanup, education, drought? We began a fine discourse and took a tour through the chambers, where this continued. I restricted myself to polite questions about procedure as to avoid being cuffed. At dinner that night, Carly told me our host had spoken with the Nadav before we departed. He apparently was suprised (maybe not delighted?) we had an interest in the actual workings of his government. I'm told there are only a limited number of westerners, particularly Americans who come to this state, the largest, most populated and most challenged in the country by nearly every social issue. When Americans come, they don't visit government. In fact, most foreigners are disallowed from entering the compound. This man has sat second to the unending stream of house speakers in this state for nearly my lifetime. He's retired, but continues to serve. And he assumed all we wanted was to have tea and see the building.

Yes, dinner last night was a treat, particularly for the ladies. We arrived at the home of C.P. Agrawal about 5:30 and had tea and many many appetizers in a sitting room off a beautiful terrace overlooking the hustling city street. C.P. and his family deal in construction materials. He does plywood. His sons do copper and concrete, for instance. His son-in-laws, other portions of the building materials trades. We listened to music, played with his grandchildren, took a tour, drank scotch and reveled in the female visitors being fussed over by the local ladies who adorned them with bangles, toe rings and henne art. By the time we sat for dinner, must have been 1 p.m., I was stuffed from appetizers and could barely eat. The food was great, but the ladies insisted I disliked their dishes. It's difficult to explain that I really can't eat that much. They don't understand. Oh yes, and I can also drink more. They don't understand that either. I'll keep at it.

Indian Oddities

2008-01-11T19:00:00.000-08:00

1. AstroTurf Vests (more on this later)
2. More horns than brakes
3. Water pitcher for toilet paper
4. Glass shards for barbed wire
5. Condom salesmen
6. Holy cows
7. Dung shrines
8. Kites galore
9. Pious monkeys
10. Painted trees
11. Unionized beggers
12. Red tobacco
13. Rickshaw school buses
14. Too much water in whiskey

India I

2008-01-11T18:53:00.001-08:00

There is a cow
On the road
Outside the gate

I hear him
Where I climbed
to pull the string
That led to a kite
Stuck in garden trees

It's the kite of a boy
Who flies them
Next to cows

A cheeky essay

2008-01-09T20:07:00.001-08:00

Who are we here? Our Varanasi hosts said we are not dignitaries as may have been suggested. "You are gods," he said. "You are gods when you are in our country!" he said, spitting blood red tobacco to a corner. This bit, this five of us being carted around, are we a rock band? We have a guitar, thanks to Karisa. I see the locals saying, "I knew the Spice Girls reorganized, but what happened to that one? She's aged so!" Karisa, she's the front person here. It's her curls they like. "You are looking beautiful today," passers by say. But she wonders, what's next? What do they mean. Is there something attached? We travel. We're scooped and moved and fed and told to rest and scooped and moved and toured and introduced and fed and fed and fed and moved and fed and told to rest, for we will move again. Four days, two days, four days three days. We are the American Circus come with a tent of ideals and maybe some expectations. But there's nothing to tell us from here to there what will take place in those three center rings. Are we the talent? The freaks? The laborers? The beasts? The experience, the sights, the breathing and knowing, the coming to know people with real skin and real eyes. Do these people see us the way we see them? Do they know the flying trapeze acts we parlay in our minds? When we are adorned -- fresh fruits, flowers and pearls -- are we being decorated in dye and sash like the holy cow, thereafter meant to be let alone, wandering and revered? This much: Our dreams are pleasant and safe, our mornings are bells and prayers, our days sunshine and architecture, our nights families and spices. And again the dreams. Sometimes the cow, sometimes the clown.

Some new photos

2008-01-09T19:45:00.001-08:00

Lucknow

2008-01-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

I believe our Indian hosts put us on the ground in Varanasi only partially because it's the oldest and holiesty living city. The other reason likely is because they wanted to shock us into submission with the press of people and creatures, the noise and intensity, so when we moved along we would feel relieved when we reached places like Lucknow. Yes, it's the capital of Uttar Pradesh. Yes, there is still heavy pressure, thick air and many people, but to a lesser extent, and even beyond that, a more subdued attitude among the masses. Somesh, my gracious host, told me early "You will find that residents of Lucknow are much more easy going, relaxed and tolerant than in other areas of the country." He was right. Listening to Somesh speak, in itself, calms the nerves. He is an eloquent speaker who knows much about his world and mine. He is an exporter of clothing and handicrafts and travels often to the U.S., U.K. and Australia. Yesterday he was our guide to Chhota Imambara and Bada Imambara, Muslim temples and gathering places started in the mid 1700s and completed following an extensive famine by an Iranian architect in the mid 1800s. The earlier building, which boasts the largest hall in Asia, was constructed with no reinforced materials, such as iron. The best I could understand is that each aspect of its stability is due to keystone construction, the type of work that keeps an arch in place. Somesh says the entire building is ventilated from the floor, and because of the particular air flow, if the windows atop the structure were closed, the entire place would crumble to the ground. This building, atop 45 steps to a second level, is a labyrinth of thin narrow passages -- "Two wrong and one right," our guide kept repeating. At various interior points of this dark and tight maze, there are vantages to the front gate, seen from secret either straight away or by virtue of a reflecting pool of water. It's easy to see the enemy enter without being seen. Also, from the front and back end of each hall, a person can stand and whisper a message that reaches the other end with striking clarity. To illustrate this, our guide lit a match from more than a football field away. As the twinkle of light appeared in his hand, the sound of the match was as if it was born from your own. We also visited a gallery of antique, artisan chandaliers and other wall hangings, took lunch and had a beer at a relaxing hotel resturant, and went for a pleasant stroll in a place that was set up under British rule as a military compound. India's military now resides there (60 years of independance!), but now the park is open to anyone who would like a reprieve from motorized traffic and to enjoy the whistling and open spaces. Nighttime brought the intention of going to see a Hindi comedy, but we had a dinner party of 10 at a hotel run by the Taj group and ran past midnight. We'll save the movie for another day. Today, I'm as Somesh's house writing and reading. We'll sit on the terrace and eat some fruits. Later we'll shop a little. Then my group will reconvene here and have a pizza and beer party on the terrace. Yes, it's a birthday celebration for me, so I get to spend it my way. Yea!

Travel on

2008-01-07T08:49:00.000-08:00

Gorakhpur is a city covered in a fine clay soot, a khaki dust that permeates the pores of its occupants and coats each flat surface it finds, and it finds everything. It finds the trees, it finds the ledges, and even tacts to windows and walkway walls. The traffic here, and population in general, is much reduced from that of Varanasi. There is slightly more order, but still a chaotic and sometimes frantic buzz and blast that makes even the largest of U.S. cities pale in comparison. Joining the beast parade of goats and cows and dogs and humans and razorbacks on the streets of Gorakhpur are the mules, which travel in packs and tend to themselves in much the same way as others -- finding food and rest where they can, wherever they can. The entire city shuts down by 10:30 p.m., even on a weekend night. It will not open again until 10 or 10:30 the following morning, something the people here call "Indian time." Yesterday we took the road to Kushinagar, which is half rutted and half new, flat construction that comes and goes in short, intermittent spurts. This is something that parallels society as a whole here, I think. The road, again, as in the case of Varanasi to Gorakhpur, is lined with villages and is occupied by many many wood oxen carts carrying sugar cane. The place they're headed is Sukroli. It resembleds a battlefield following an air raid. The visibility cannot be more than an eighth mile. Diesel fuels powers belt grinders to mince the cane and extract the pulp. This is boiled under straw huts in circular cauldrens four foot in radius. In any direction, as far off as can be viewed, piles of gray and black smoke finger the sky. In this sacarin village, every breathe comes with an intoxicatingly sweet sting. Now, with the sticky syrup sifted and strained, villages allow the substance to cool and it comes to a grainy, brown molasses. It is gritty and sweet to the taste. Children paste it to short sticks of sugar cane and eat it as candy. As Karisa, one our group members noted, "This place makes me feel like I'm in a National Geographic production." Indeed.
So, another 15 minutes up the varying road, Kushinagar is known as the land of Buddha, where the wandering prince spent his final embodied days. It is said that when he passed, the Earth shook and the skies shot a shower of stars. Upon arrival to this holy place, we stood in the sunshine and ate fresh goya and bananas. We watched school boys use a lodging house court yard to play cricket. Even 12-year-olds have vigorous matches. We walked to the stupa and other ancient structures that were unearthed in the 1920s. We visited a temple constructed 14 years ago by a Thai king, given the tour by a Thai monk. Anne and I were pulled aside by a group of Gorakhpur teens. Apparently they liked the way we looked, and asked us to pose in a photo with the group. We do tend to stand out. The architecture for the temples and the mausoleum where an approximately 40-foot tall statue of Buddha lays on its side are impressive sites. The lone regretful thing is that the grounds for such an important place are littered beyond excuse. It ocurred to a couple of us that a handful of the beggers here could be given jobs to simply collect the paper waste and put it in an offset spot. But the days here are irreplaceable. It is difficult to be on the road, rushed about all the time. The thick air, the blaring horns, the oppressive traffic, the massive amount of food our gracious Indian hosts insist we try, and the 5:30 a.m. prayer calls that echo through the city at the first light of each day tend to wear on our apparently light Western constitution. However, it's impossible to justify a day of rest. This is a time never to be had again, and to miss a day of events with such enlightened hosts and an ever-bonding travel team would be inexcusable. Today was a trip to Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. On the way we stopped for lunch with Rotarians at Barabanki and visited a grade school for village girls -- young ones in previous generations that used to be called "untouchables." The school, in a movement called "coming to caring", was started in the early 1930s by Gandhi himself. These little girls, with their large brown eyes and brilliant smiles, performed traditional song and dance for us in a sunny courtyard. We presented them with warm wool blankets provided by the Rotarians. Although the temps here are mid-70s, this is the Indian winter. At any rate, equal rights and education --- a project for which anyone can be proud.

Now in Gorakhpur

2008-01-05T01:53:00.000-08:00

Hello from the road. The final couple days in Varanasi were fascinating. We went to the Golden Temple in the middle of the oldest part of the city. We were being led through by guides in a maze of very thin walkways shrouded by ancient walls and lined with every type of merchant imagineable. I bought a small collection of tunics, some toys and jewelry -- much to the delight of the local business people, who are very honest and friendly -- and spent less than $20. As we approached the temple, we were checked by militia men no less than five times. We were disallowed from taking cameras, phones, pens and anything else that could conceal or be fashioned into a weapon. The walls and gates leading to the temple were coiled with razor wire. There were soliders with automatic machine guns hunkered down behind cement covers. The threat of violence here is real. Any of the most sacred places among Hindus and Muslims could be a target any time, either for attack or retaliation, depending on which side of the conflict you stand. Closer to the temple, there were many people lining the thin walkways, vines and tropical trees infusing the encampement, breaking the sunlight. Monkeys hung and bounced from every high surface. As I lined with hundreds of others, barefooted and in dripping and dimly lit corridors, to enter, I was approached by one of the guards: "You from U.S., are you of the Hindu Faith?" I replied accordingly and was told I could not enter. I, along with my travel mates, waited to the side as our guides, all Rotarians, entered the temple to pray before the shrine of Shiva. Later that evening we were escorted to one of our host family's homes to attend an all-clubs meeting of the Rotary. There are 16 clubs in Varanasi, which I have been told has an estimated population of 35 million. We gave our presentations, each of us showing photos of our homes, family and workplaces, telling the 200 people in attendance about what we do, how we live. After the presentations were were given gifts, many photos were taken. The following mornign we learned that one of those photos made a Hindi paper that is circulated to more than 2 million readers. Yesterday we made the trip to Gorakhpur. It was a five hour ride with all of us and or luggage in a large Chevy fourwheeler (with a very good hired driver) on a thin highway with much traffic and villages the entire way. It more or less follows the Ganges watershed and had beautiful expanses of farms and villages. We had a bonfire party with Rotarians last night and rested well. Today we visited a garment school and clothing factory where women are given training to enter the workforce. This was an occupational visit for Anne, who is a clothing designer. We also went to the Mother Theresa home where people with mental disabilities who cannot be cared for by their families are given proper shelter, food and medical treatment. Finally, we visited a nature hospital where we were shown a variety of treatments for nearly all illnesses. The means to cure or abate disease involve only water, sun, air and mud. After the tour, we all had full body massages and had a fine meal prepared from the doctor's family garden. What a place! I'm wildly relaxed and glad to be at an Internet cafe (for 20 rupees per hour, which equates to about 75 cents) so I can share some of this with you. We have another presentation tonight, and will leave our hotel tomorrow for Lucknow. I'll try to get photos on here as well, though I'm blind in choosing them. Much love to everyone, and an update again soon. Patrick, on behalf of the Group Study Exchange Team in Uttar Pradesh India.

Ahh, yes yes!

2008-01-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

Early note -- Yes, it's taken me a bit to get to this. My initial intention was to do daily updates here. I understood Web was much less common in India. Nay nay nay. Much much less common. I'm staying with friends Subodh and wife Sunita and their friend who owns a nice hotel, Surya, allowed me to use an office for this purpose. I have many photos and stories after only three days of a one month trip. I can give a quick sample of these photos now and will do more later. First, some early impressions, very early impressions from my first day in the wonderful country.

Day 1 – Varanasi – 31 Dec.

We sit in the lawn under a yellow umbrella with pink and green flowers, surrounded by gardens and the hosts’ young girls in gowns running in circles singing and dancing, showing off for us. We are driven through impossibly pressed streets – bicycles, pedestrians, motorcycles, cows, scooters, buses, goats, rickshaws and dogs – then us in a small Suzuki passenger car with sideviews pinned back for precious space in a cacophony of horns and calamity of crisscrossing goers everywhere. It’s tucked tight and harried in a small city with many-many people. But, as seems to be the case with most Indian things, everyone finds their place. Somehow, maybe by divinity, there is a place for everyone. Banaras Hindu University is miles long because the story goes the man who would take the land donation was told to walk as far as he could and make it back by sundown and that would be the campus. The Fine Arts Faculty is a mostly private collection held by the university. Most normal people – particularly Westerners like me – cannot see this: 2800 B.C. copper war tools, stone carvings, edifices from ancient buildings 1,700 years old stand in no case and without glass giving the stalwart aroma of humanity, of things done well for the right reasons. Carved pearl daggers with inlaid stones rimmed with gold and a room of Alice Boner, from Switzerland, who came to India in 1926 to be inspired by all the people, the simple ones with extraordinary lives, the dancers with waving palms up, the singers with long lifting voices. She sculpted and painted and it sits here for us somehow. My palms sweat. I want to sing and cry and laugh and scream all at once. We go to the oldest temple in the oldest living city. The holiest of places made for all people for all gods and all believers. We stand in the busy street in the sunshine and have tea in clay cups. We go to the Faculty of Fine Arts and sit bare-footed in a small room and listen to traditional drums coupled with the sitar players, the passionate and peaceful disciples of Rati Shankar. We have lunch in a grassy courtyard of Milan Royal Retreat, eat all the traditional Indian foods. Rubi’s husband Anook is the great grandson of the modern founder of Hindu, a man who wrote and painted and danced and traveled before travel and died at 35 in 1885. I don’t want to hear anymore of this place and it’s starvation and its filth. The people who talk of these things are blind to strength and determination. India to me seems like a collective grace in all life’s aspects.

Since this day I've floated the Ganges River, took tea with new friends on the sandy beach, toured the ghats where many thousands from all over come to pray and bathe away their sins, had traditional Indian meals at fantastic restaurants, had a late-late "31 Dec. Celebration", visited the Sarnath temple where Buddha went first after finding enlightment to teach his five wandering students, toured a massive Hindi language newspaper that has 2 a.m. daily deadline and sends two million papers to readers' doorsteps by 5 a.m. ---- uh, whew --- and shortly ago finished coffee and conversation with the Singhs, hotel owners, on the matters of spirituality (no need to speak of religion, there is a differene) and how to reach the place you seek. Now I'm beckoned for dinner. Much more later ---- Happy New Year!

Breaking news from Petoskey Michigan

2007-12-27T08:52:00.000-08:00

Petoskey resident and fashion designer, Anne Selden, will travel to India Dec. 28 for a month-long study of the country's culture and vocational practices as part of a Group Study Exchange program sponsored by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. (Christina Rohn/News-Review)

Petoskey woman heading off to India

By the end of this week 27-year-old Anne Selden of Petoskey will be in India studying fashion design as part of Rotary Foundation's Group Study Exchange program.

Selden, a local fashion designer who is being sponsored by Rotary Club of Petoskey, is one of five young professionals between the ages of 25 and 40, who will leave the United States Dec. 28 and spend four weeks in northern India, returning Jan. 28. 2008.

The group will be staying in Rotarians' homes throughout the month, moving every two to three days, allowing them to experience the way of life, customs and vocational practices of the people of India.

"We're going to get an inside look at India," Selden said. "We're not staying in hotels like tourists would."

Each week the group members will get a chance to meet people in their same industry.

Selden, who has studied textile in Japan and Paris, France, and started her own Web-based business, Sartoria LLC, a year ago, said she is extremely excited about studying fashion in India.

"India sparked my interest because I've always wanted to be exposed to that extreme use of color -- in the U.S. we're more toned down," she said. "Going somewhere different like that is going to totally change what I do and how I view things. I'm looking forward to how it affects my work -- it's going to change everything."

Jeff Hickman, group study exchange chair and member of the Rotary Club of Traverse City, said he believes the trip will be an enlightening experience for all of the participants.

"They (group exchanges) have tended to be life changing experiences for people because they see another culture from the inside, not just from a tourist's perspective," he said. "They get an appreciation for another culture -- a global vision.

"We've had people return from these trips, and it's so enlightening, that it can cause career changes," Hickman said.

Selden said she is already losing sleep, anticipating the trip.

"I'm starting to lose sleep a little bit; I'm wondering what I'm going to put in my bag -- I'm not nervous, I'm excited," she said. "I can't really put a finger on how much it's going to change me. I'm looking forward to finding out -- that's what's exciting."

Noted Bollywood figure dies

2007-12-26T08:58:00.000-08:00

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Bollywood filmmaker G.P. Sippy, better known as the producer of the cult classic “Sholay”, died on Tuesday at his home in Mumbai. He was 93.

"He passed away yesterday night in his house," a family spokesperson said.

Sippy, who directed his first film “Marine Drive” in 1955, went on to produce a total of 19 films - including “Sholay”.

The 1975 blockbuster, directed by Sippy’s son Ramesh, ran in cinemas for years and is considered India’s best adaptation of a Western.

A Holland Sentinel story from '06 on Rotary/polio

2007-12-19T08:54:00.000-08:00

CULTURE: Before Jan. 15, the day when immunizations were given, John Hoekstra had a little time in India to see the sights as a tourist. Top left, an Indian father stands in line to receive a polio vaccination for his daughter.

Holland man travels with Rotary group to bring Polio vaccine to India

By CHERI McSPADEN

You hear that Americans are not exactly welcomed warmly around the world these days, but John Hoekstra didn't experience that on his recent trip to India.

"No, actually it was just the opposite," he said.

Hoekstra is the president of Factory Insite, a Holland business that develops industrial software, but in January, in his capacity as a Rotarian, he was delivering polio vaccines.

"We had amazing press coverage. There were a pile of newspapers with our pictures on the cover," he said. "One camp we were at, near Dhan Pur, they were training college-age women, and I never felt like a rock star before, but they just inundated us, and I signed 40 or 50 things. One said, 'Oh, I don't have any paper -- will you sign my palm?' I said, 'Yeah, but you have to promise to wash it.' And she said, 'Oh no, I'm never going to wash it.' And I thought, 'Oh my goodness.'"

The young women were impressed by the good work done by Rotary International, which, on Feb. 1, eliminated polio in Niger and Egypt.

"In North America, polio is a distant memory for most, but ... the four countries now where polio is still endemic are Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan," Hoekstra said.

Would he go to Afghanistan?

"I would be a little hesitant," he said. "But we spent time in Varanasi (India) and I just read in the Sentinel a few days ago about a bombing in Varanasi that killed 20-some-odd people. I said, 'I was there. I know where that is.'"

In 1985, Rotary International created the PolioPlus program.

"The 100th anniversary of Rotary was last year, so the goal was to eliminate polio worldwide by then. And we didn't quite make it, BUT we're very close. One of my reasons for going to India now was that we may be done with the extraordinary immunization days this year in India and it can become part of the public health infrastructure."

Something to be proud of, both for himself, and for the Rotary Club of Holland, which has been involved with the polio project for about 20 years.

Hoekstra represented Holland in a massive group of volunteers who manned 1,200 vaccination booths on National Immunization Day, Jan. 15.

"The word booths evokes a totally different picture in my mind. I think of like a carnival booth," he said. "That's not really the case. They use people's porches or schools, or any area where they could set up a table."

The target age is children 5 and younger, since they're at the highest risk to contract polio.

"It's an oral polio vaccine, we squeeze a little nipple and hit their tongue. Two drops," Hoekstra said. "In our district, the goal was 200,000 children.

"We paint the left pinkie of each child who was vaccinated with indelible ink, which lasts about a week. You don't want to waste vaccine on children you've already vaccinated. It doesn't hurt them, but it's just a waste of vaccine. It costs Rotary about 60 cents a shot. That includes publicity and logistics."

The concept of helping people isn't something new to Hoekstra. As he grew up in Kalamazoo, his father was active in the YMCA, which did missionary work, particularly in South America, but also in Asia.

"About the time I was in junior high school, we started traveling internationally. ... We'd go to various areas in the world and stop and visit missionaries, stay with them and do projects."

Hoekstra calls his father a "very intense" traveler, who would pack in a lot. If anyone complained, he'd say, "Well, how many times are we going to get to this area of the world?"

"And we'd say, 'Yeah, OK Dad,'" Hoekstra said, chuckling.

His mother, Marian Dame, grew up in Holland.

"She was the daughter of C.P. Dame, the pastor," he said.

Having traveled so much with his parents, Hoekstra knew a home in India wouldn't be like a home in Holland.

"The Eastern toilets are interesting, just a hole in the ground basically, even in a middle-class home. It's just a porcelain bowl that's set in the ground with pads to stand on. It flushes like a Western-style toilet, but it was what we called a 'squat-upon.'"

And he knew that international traveling meant he'd need several vaccinations.

"Yes, India is one of the last polio-infested areas of the world, but there's also malaria, cholera and hepatitis," Hoekstra said. "I did get cholera one time in El Salvador. That was not fun, but if it's treated right away, it only lasts a few days.

"One of the next big initiatives for Rotary International is clean water ... If we can get enough clean water, we'll start to knock off the other diseases."

our group's call to arms

2007-12-18T09:38:00.001-08:00

Here are the individual requests we've made to meet professional counterparts during our trip to India.

Carly Uhlman, Youth Probation Officer: “I am very passionate about my work with Youth Probation and I look forward to being exposed to the operation of India's Justice System. Appropriate work placements for me would include a Probation Office, the Courts, a Correctional facility and a Child Welfare agency.”

Patrick Revere, Journalist: “Among the vast groups of people I intend to meet and to be enlightened by are those who work as writers, producers and editors in the fields of media as well as the more creative, free-form artists of language and communication. I want to understand the issues that shape the past, current beliefs and desires of Indian people from an array of religious and socio-economic backgrounds. I would like to meet decision makers at The Times and families shaping community news start-ups alike.”

Karisa Wilson, Musician: “I'd like to meet musicians who perform for a living, folk/pop music, singers and instrumentalists, or any variation of the above.”

Anne Selden, Fashion Designer: “I am interested in textiles and clothing, both traditional and contemporary. I am also interested in all processes from dyeing, weaving, and manufacturing of saris to the psychology of clothing- what women in India choose to wear, how they wear it, and what that choice implies in today's India. I often draw inspiration from architecture. I look forward to seeing as many buildings, both old and new, in India as possible as the buildings are so completely different from anything I have ever seen before in the west.”

Final in-person planning session

2007-12-17T09:31:00.000-08:00

Hello mates. Well, in speaking with our team leader Chris Langlois, it's been determined that this page will evolve from a blog that will update friends and family to a way to communicate with all of Rotary for our district in Michigan and Canada as well as with the clubs we'll visit in Uttar Pradesh. We had our final group meeting this weekend, did fun little things like host a speaker who has traveled to India for Rotary (albeit two decades ago), attaching Rotary patches to blazers and watching a movie, The Namesake, on an Indian family and their new lives as Indian Americans. It was the adaptation of a book by Jhumpa Lahiri (I believe I spelled her name correctly, help me out here Krista!). We went to eat at a fine restaurant called Naya, which has a sampling of all types of international foods. Then we ventured out for some music and played some pool. Quite honestly, Anne and I owned the pool table for much of the night! Go team! Sunday we had some breakfast together, went over each of our presentations for India and dispersed. Next time we meet will be in the GR airport Dec. 28 for our trip to Detroit, through Paris, and on to Delhi. Our trip will begin in earnest Dec. 30 day when we fly to Varanasi and begin travels on the ground for a month. Attached is a photo of the team chatting, sewing patches, and yes, sipping wine.

2007-12-14T22:03:00.001-08:00

2007-12-14T21:58:00.000-08:00

take a look at this vid

2007-12-10T15:51:00.001-08:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3353034148321283599&q=india&total=110298&start=10&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=4

It's supposed to be warm!

2007-12-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

New Delhi (PTI): Chilly conditions prevailed in many parts of northern India on Monday with areas in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh recording sub-zero temperatures and snowfall even as five deaths were reported in the region.

In Uttar Pradesh, three persons died of the cold wave in Jaunpur and Muzaffarnagar, while one death each was reported from Jammu and Hoshiarpur in Punjab.

Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla witnessed the first snowfall of the season as temperatures plummeted to 0.7 degrees Celsius. Kalpa had a minimum temperature of minus 4.1 degrees.

While Shimla recorded 2 cm of snowfall, Dundi and Solang Nallah in Kullu district recorded 14 cm and 10 cm of snowfall respectively. The tourist spot of Kufri on the outskirts of Shimla recorded about 4 cm snowfall.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the higher reaches of the state experienced snowfall while the minimum temperature at Drass in Kargil sector was minus seven degrees.

The hill station of Mt. Abu was the coldest place in Rajasthan with the mercury dipping to three degrees even as the rest of the state got some respite from the intense cold due to the western disturbances over the northern and southern parts of the state.

The national capital remained foggy as the minimum temperature was recorded at 8.8 degrees. But flights took off as scheduled at the airport here. In Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the minimum temperature rose by about a couple of notches in some parts.

lucknow

2007-12-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

a wonderful description of one of the cities my group will visit --
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. It has a population of about 2.6 million. Located in what was historically known as the Awadh region, Lucknow has always been a multicultural city. Courtly manners, beautiful gardens, poetry, music, and fine cuisine patronized by the Nawabs are well known among Indians and students of South Asian culture and history. Lucknow is popularly known as the The City of Nawabs. It is also known as the Golden City of the East, Shiraz-i-Hind and The Constantinople of India. Today, Lucknow is a vibrant city that is witnessing an economic boom and is among the top ten fastest growing non-metropolitan cities of India. The unique combination of its cultured grace and newly acquired pace is its most promising feature that augurs well for the future.

Some much anticipated Indian architecture

2007-12-03T12:50:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed taking a look at some of these temples —— http://www.indiantemplesportal.com/north-india-temples.html —— most of which are in areas me and my group will visit next month. That said, the countdown is on — I'm 25 days away from takeoff. I had been hoping we'd get an interesting layover in some European city, like Barcelona or Amsterdam. Not to be. It's a direct flight from Newark (ugh!) to Delhi. Man, how long does that take? But who am I to complain, and I'm sure my travel mates would agree. A month out of West Michigan in January, paid from work, and traveling to and around one of the most exotic places in the world all arranged and sponsored by the Rotarians. We all knew they were good people. All those people spared from polio would testify, but this? So it's a flight to Delhi, where we'll spend a night and recover a bit, then fly to Varanasi. A few days there, then on to places like Gorakhpur, Kushinagar (The Land of Buddha), Lucknow, Barabaki, Lakhimpur, Sitapur, Rae Bareli, Allahabad, Satna, Rewa, Renukoot and back to Varanasi and Delhi. Whew! That's a lot in a month, but each of our stays will be four or five days, I'm told. We're also going to try to make to Agra for the Taj Mahal and get to the World Health Organization for a bit while back in Delhi. There will be a day of rest and touring (the day before my birthday and the Islamic New Year) in Lucknow, which is supposed to be a really fascinating city. I look forward to sharing with all of you thoughts and images as I go. Bookmark this page, please, and check often through the month of January.

Lawyers protest bombings

2007-11-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

Judicial work came to a standstill with lawyers in Uttar Pradesh, who appear to be the targets of the serial blasts, struck work today.

Courts in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi, as well as other places have been affected.

Lawyers moved about in groups in the court compounds and raised slogans against terrorism. The government has tightened security arrangements in the courts throughout the state after the terror blasts.

On Friday, 13 people, including at least five lawyers, were killed and many more injured in the explosions that took place inside the premises of the courts.

The lawyers are observing 'Shok Divas' or day of mourning. Security is tight in Lucknow and other parts of the state in view of the strike.

A five-member committee, including two retired judges, has been set up to suggest ways and means for improving security in the courts.

Lawyers in at least six other states have joined the strike, these include Karnataka, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh.

On their part, Delhi lawyers have decided to strike against the UP serial blasts tomorrow.

Polio, Rotary and India in the news

2007-11-26T11:03:00.000-08:00

Rotary and Gates Foundation donate $200 million to eradicate polio
By MARIA CHENG
AP Medical Writer

LONDON — The global campaign to wipe out polio is getting a $200 million donation from Rotary International and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at a time when some worry the effort will fail in the final stages.

Monday's announcement by both organizations came after nearly two decades of work against polio, an infectious disease that can paralyze and sometimes kill.

"This investment is precisely the catalyst we need as we intensify the push to finish polio," Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, said in a statement.

Though polio incidence has been slashed by more than 99 percent worldwide since the eradication effort began in 1988, the virus remains entrenched in Afghanistan, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.

Two deadlines to eliminate polio have been missed: 2000 and 2005. More than $5 billion has been poured into the effort, and some experts worry that unless the job is finished soon, the world community's money and patience may run out.

"They're on a heroic task, but money is not the only problem," said Dr. Donald A. Henderson, who headed WHO's smallpox successful eradication campaign. "We've got to soldier on. We need more money. Look at all we've accomplished. But how do we get to the endpoint?"

Henderson and other experts worry that major obstacles to vaccinating children will be harder to overcome than filling a funding gap.

In countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Congo, where there are armed conflicts and weak health services, it has been extremely difficult to reach the high vaccination levels needed to wipe out polio. And in India, the vaccine is less effective, due to poor sanitation and the fact that children are often infected with intestinal viruses.

Experts are also concerned about the use of the oral vaccine, which contains live polio virus. In rare instances, the virus can mutate into a dangerous form capable of causing the disease.

The donation from Rotary International and the Gates Foundation, to be paid over three years, will largely go to immunization campaigns, surveillance and public education.

"This amount of money can make quite a big difference," said Nicholas Grassly, of Imperial College, London, who advises WHO on polio issues. "We can build on the gains that have been made this year."

WHO reports significant progress against polio in India and Nigeria, where 85 percent of the world's polio cases occur. Last year at this time, Nigeria had 958 polio cases. This year, only 226 were reported.

Still, the $200 million falls short of the $650 million that WHO says will be needed by 2009. Eradicating polio will ultimately cost $1 billion more, said Dr. David Heymann, WHO's top polio official.

Beneath a Marble Sky

2007-11-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

I'm reading this wonderful book, a work of fiction by John Shors called "Beneath A Marble Sky." Its a tale, a love story actually (don't gush girls), about the construction of the Taj Mahal in Agra. I am fortunate that the people who will be hosting our travel group have arranged a visit here. I'm certain it would be an incredible experience in any context, but after reading this seemingly accurate depiction of the thought and labor behind the construction, the visit is sure to be a mesmerizing experience never to be forgotten. Here's an excerpt and a photo of the architectural wonder:

Sunrise over the Yamuna River has often prompted me to think of Paradise. From the broad shoulders of the waterway I have cherished the sights before me as I might the face of my lover. This morning's views are as inspiring as ever, especially after having been away in hiding for so long. To my right sprawls the magnificent Red Fort. Opposite, awash in the sun's blood, stands the Taj Mahal, neither soaring as a falcon might, nor cresting like the sea. Rather, the mausoleum arches upward, strong and noble, a gateway to the heavens. Knowing that the Taj Mahal was built for my mother is among my greatest joys, and my most profound sorrows.

Today, I am not alone. My guardian, Nizam, patiently rows our boat across the Yamuna. Behind our craft's bow sit my granddaughters, Gulbadan and Rurayya. No longer girls, each is a wondrous incarnation of my daughter. Looking at them, I think that time has moved too swiftly, that just yesterday I was stroking the soles of their diminutive, untested feet. My love for my granddaughters is even stronger now than it was then. When I see them I feel as if I'm moving forward into places harboring no regrets, no memories reminding me of my scars, those thick welts upon my mind and body.

Humble beginnings

2007-11-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

This is a site dedicated to the pending month-long trip to north india, uttar pradesh, during which i will be traveling with with a business exchange group sponsored by rotary international. We will give presentations about who we are, where we live and how we live. We will meet with professionals in our respective fields -- journalism, music, justice and fashion design. We will visit Delhi, Varanasi, Allahabad and some other wildly interesting places, which escape my infant-like recollection of them. I've been studying with the group, and doing some reading and research (meaning youtube) and will share some of that here, as a matter of practice, before my trip. But when I hit the ground, watch out!